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Vol. 31, Issue 27 BROOKLYN EDITION JULY 3-9, 2020
By Bert Wilkinson
Some measure of calm
returned to the Trinidad capital,
Port of Spain, on Wednesday,
a day after rioting and
protests broke out over the
weekend fatal police shooting
of three men in the city.
Angry gunmen, some of
them thought to belong to
armed gangs which have fought
deadly turf wars in the country
for years, fired shots at police
from apartment buildings as
youths blocked roadways, set
fire to debris and marched
through commercial sections
of the city forcing some businesses
to close, cancelling a
scheduled sitting of the senate.
An unidentified gunman
also fired a shot through the
window of the attorney general’s
office. Attorney General
Faris Al Rawi said the bullet
“went through two panes of
glass and lodged into empty
cubicle where someone was
previously sitting. The staff was
in the room at the time. We are
very lucky nobody was hurt.”
Minister of Police and
National Security, Stuart Young
argued that many of the protestors
were paid by unnamed
criminal elements and gang
leaders to participate in Tuesday’s
eruption in the congested
Eastern Port of Spain district
as apparent payback for the
slayings of the three. Some
protesters admitted to reporters
that they were paid but
argued that they happily took
to the streets because they are
fed up of heavy handed police
officers who sometimes harass
these city communities.
Witnesses said that the three
men who were shot had surrendered
to police with hands
raised but officers said one of
the men in the back seat of the
vehicle that police had stopped
had allegedly rolled down the
window and had pointed an
object at two patrols, sparking
the deadly reaction from the
officers. Video footage appeared
to bear out some aspects of the
charge that the men had surrendered.
“Who is paying these people?
Who stands to gain from disrupting
the peace and quiet in
Port-of-Spain?” Young asked.
Young promised that the public
will soon know the truth about
the officers involved shooting
Faith leaders and elected offi cials lead march on Father’s Day in Flatbush, Brooklyn.
See story on Page 3. 67th Precinct Clergy Council / GodSquad
Public advocate plans to prevent
execution of New York City budget
By Nelson A. King
After the New York City
Council voted on Tuesday to
adopt the city’s Fiscal Year
2021 budget, Public Advocate
Jumaane D. Williams
announced that he plans to
prevent the execution of the
budget during the final tax
warrant process, under the
New York City Charter Ch.
58, Section 1518.
Williams, the son of Grenadian
immigrants, was furious
that the budget did not
include a New York Police
Department (NYPD) hiring
freeze or a commitment to
“true school safety reform.”
“In a moment when New
Yorkers, with the entire nation,
are demanding a reimagining
of public safety, a reckoning
with systemic injustices
and inequities, the city falls
far short with a budget that
misses the moment of need,”
he said.
“It sends a message to New
Yorkers that, in a time of economic
and public health devastation,
the city cannot adequately
fund senior services,
city hospitals. or youth jobs,
cannot afford to hire doctors,
nurses, teachers, guidance
counselors, social workers,
but, unquestionably, needs to
add over 1,000 police officers,”
Williams added. It perpetuates
the idea that the NYPD is
sacrosanct, and the solution is
always more police, and that
we must accept this.
Continued on Page 14 Continued on Page 14
March to end racisim
FIERY
PROTESTS
ABATE
Port of Spain returns to a
semblance of calm
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